Chapter 937: Heaven and Earth Change Color

The He Family Pork Shop had not opened once this entire month. The lard-mixed rice stall run by the He family’s daughter-in-law had also been closed for quite a few days.

Ever since news reached the common people that the Emperor had fallen gravely ill and had invested Prince Pingxi as Regent Prince of Great Yan in preparation for entrusting the orphaned heir to him, the Old He household had stopped slaughtering pigs.

No pigs slaughtered meant no pork to sell.

Naturally, there was no home-rendered lard either.

More than that...

Old He, He Chu, and grandson He Fu, the three males of the household, had stopped doing anything else all day. They invited home an image of the Medicine King Bodhisattva and hung it inside the house, and all three generations began eating vegetarian meals and praying for blessings.

In truth, the old people of Yan had deep feelings for the Ji Clan.

Whether it was the Yan imperial house leading its people through bloody battles in earlier generations, or the late Emperor commanding Yan’s armies as they expanded the realm, if one set aside the constant internal scheming of the imperial family—those perennial dramas unknown to people at the bottom—then at least in the hearts of ordinary Yan commoners, their Emperor and the Ji imperial clan had always been the Heaven above their heads.

But...

Bihe felt this was going a little too far, didn’t it?

After all... inside this household, she was the only one surnamed Ji.

Today, Bihe’s grandfather, Old Guang, came to visit.

He knocked.

His granddaughter opened the door.

The moment he stepped into the courtyard and saw the arrangement, then saw his granddaughter’s husband kneeling beside his father while his great-grandson slept next to the two of them, with an offering table set up and incense burning before the hanging image of the Medicine King Bodhisattva...

“What is this...?”

Old Guang had no idea what was going on.

He had gone to the shop looking for them and found it closed. At first, he assumed something had happened at home. But after seeing the place remain shut for so long, he finally had no choice but to come personally and take a look.

Strictly speaking, he stood one generation above Old He.

Normally, when the two old men drank a little wine outside and chatted like brothers, none of that mattered. They were both free and relaxed.

But the moment he entered the He household, the difference in generation became real.

So unless it was genuinely necessary, Old Guang usually preferred not to visit in person.

“They said they want to pray for His Majesty’s recovery,” Bihe answered.

“Uh...”

Old Guang’s lips trembled.

Tears immediately began streaming down his face.

Smack! Smack!

He slapped himself twice across the face, hard enough to startle Bihe beside him.

“Granddaughter, your husband’s family may come from butchers, but they understand propriety better than some great noble house. I’ve lived all these years only to turn into a damned dog.”

Deeply moved, Old Guang walked over and knelt as well, joining the prayer.

He was a member of the imperial clan.

Unlike his granddaughter, who had grown up carrying little more than the name of imperial kin, Old Guang had still seen some remnants of imperial-clan dignity in his household when he was young.

More than that, his eldest son now held office outside, while his younger son—Bihe’s father—had been doing better and better in palace service over the past two years.

Those were all tangible examples of imperial grace.

Old He and He Chu turned their heads and looked at Old Guang kneeling beside them.

Father and son were already too weak to say much.

Children of a butcher’s household, no matter how poor they were, would never lack meat so long as the family trade continued.

Now, after eating vegetarian food for so many days, both men wore an unmistakably sallow look.

But what else could they do?

Who could have imagined their son-in-law—and brother-in-law—would suddenly collapse like this?

This... was all they could do.

Compared with common households, the truly powerful figures above them could do far more.

But because Prince Pingxi had been further invested as Regent Prince, standing there like a Sea-Stabilizing Pillar, the overwhelming majority of people had no choice but to exercise restraint.

There were movements.

But all of them remained controlled.

Great Yan stood at the beginning of another great political shift. A collision at the center of power was already visible ahead.

Even the purest loyal minister would find it difficult to simply sit there and do nothing.

Some people acted for the sake of securing their own future positions, hoping to align themselves with the Regent Prince’s coming rule.

Some acted for the Crown Prince’s future safety, hoping to carry him safely through the instability that would follow the Emperor’s death.

Some acted out of concern for the Ji family’s realm, hoping to use the coming upheaval to restrict the Regent Prince’s reach as much as possible and establish certain soft boundaries in advance.

For themselves.

For the state.

For the Ji family.

All kinds existed.

Those genuinely charging headfirst toward death were actually very few.

Most were merely shifting their positions within what they believed the rules allowed.

But none of that truly mattered.

A new purge... had already begun.

During this month, whether one acted or remained still, whether one behaved outrageously or properly, whether one was wise or impulsive... none of it counted.

Not every Emperor ever received the luxury of a sensitive period before his own supposed “death.”

For most sovereigns, by the time death genuinely approached, a vacuum in power had already begun forming.

That had happened during the late Emperor’s final period of recuperation in the Rear Garden as well.

Otherwise, there never would have been the all-out struggle between the Crown Prince faction and Sixth Prince faction.

Of course, no Emperor would willingly use his own “death” to dig a pit.

And this pit was not even meant as a trap to lure people into jumping.

The Emperor simply stood beside it and called names.

If he called yours... then you were the one.

If he said you belonged in the pit... you had to jump in yourself.

Refuse?

Fine.

Then let your entire family jump in with you.

This period was simply too sensitive.

Sensitive enough that, whether before the people of the age or before the judgment of history, the Emperor and court could produce more than sufficient justification for everything they did.

Once one could remain “without shame” before the people... and “without shame” before the histories... then the authority of an Emperor among men could, in the truest sense... run wild without restraint.

During this period, Lu Bing transformed into a living King of Hell.

The Imperial Prison threw open its gates.

Secret-police agents smashed through doors and dragged officials away in chains.

The same scene played out continuously across every region of Great Yan.

The Secret Intelligence Department, long mocked as inferior to Qian’s Silver-Armored Guard and Chu’s Phoenix Nest inner guards, finally revealed its savage fangs in full.

Though this time... those fangs pointed inward.

...

Inside the Rear Garden, the Blind Man brewed tea and handed a cup to Master.

“Master, do you know that the capital has been very lively these past days?”

“I know.” Zheng Fan nodded.

“There are some things this subordinate probably should not say.”

“If someone else said that to me, I’d probably answer, ‘Then don’t say them.’ Since it’s you, Blind Man, speak.”

“Thank you, Master.”

The Blind Man adjusted his cuffs.

Then said:

“When the Emperor first ascended the throne, stability came before everything else. He did everything possible to make sure his dragon throne sat firmly beneath him. At the same time, he began pushing his New Policies. The great war triggered by Liang almost disrupted his rhythm halfway through. But because Master came out of retirement, the situation was ultimately stabilized. Now the Emperor has reigned more than two years, nearly three. If you look across the whole state, aside from Master and eastern Jin, there is no longer any force in Great Yan capable of banding together to resist the Emperor’s will. But the Emperor is still dissatisfied. The storm Lu Bing has stirred up this time is a factional struggle personally launched by the Emperor himself. He wants to place officials he likes into office. That means clearing out large numbers of positions. He wants his own will carried through. He wants the entire state to move in his hands as naturally as his own arms and fingers. For an ordinary Emperor, being able to sit steadily above the struggle while factions clash beneath him, serving as the referee, would already be enough for history to call him a master of imperial politics. But ours clearly does not find that sufficient. He wants to be the referee. And he wants to enter the match himself. This is factional exclusion, except the faction is the Emperor’s own. He does not merely want to remain the Son of Heaven high above everyone else. He also wants to be his own Chancellor.”

Zheng Fan reached out and slowly traced one finger along the rim of his teacup.

“What is wrong with that? If we’re preparing for the wars to come, only this kind of approach can let Yan accumulate enough strength over the next few years.”

In truth, “rest and recuperation”—especially when applied to an entire state—had always been something of a false proposition.

Because efficiency also mattered.

A capable bureaucratic system could move resources to precisely where they were needed and achieve results.

The opposite was like an irrigation ditch left unrepaired for years.

No matter how much water you poured into the top, half of it could leak away before reaching the end.

Eastern Jin had grown from bare ground into a territory capable of independently fielding more than a hundred thousand iron cavalry and standing against Chu with the power of one region.

The system the Blind Man and Siniang had begun constructing all the way back in Shengle City deserved enormous credit for that.

Now Ji Chengjue wanted to use that foundation to improve and evolve the efficiency of the entire machinery of state.

Zheng Fan understood that perfectly well.

“What this subordinate wants to tell Master is not about that broad strategy. This subordinate knows Master already understands those things clearly.”

“Then what do you want to say?”

“The capital is the dragon’s eye of Great Yan. Why can Lu Bing behave this openly, this recklessly, without facing any real backlash?”

“Because I’m here.”

“Yes. But not only because of that. To the outside world, the Emperor may already be dead. Lu Bing is not obeying the Emperor. He is obeying... Master. The Regent Prince of Great Yan. And using your orders to eliminate political enemies.”

Zheng Fan frowned slightly.

“A while ago, Master took Tian Tian to pay respects at the Tian Clan ancestral graves. As family, this subordinate naturally knows that Master genuinely went there to pay respects. You wanted Tian Tian to acknowledge his ancestry and complete one piece of his life. But every movement by a man at the top, even when born from true feeling, becomes a political signal to those below. It is no different from the Son of Heaven offering sacrifice to Heaven. Prince Jingnan once destroyed his own entire clan to advance the destruction of Great Yan’s hereditary clans. So what message does the Regent Prince send by going there now? Those who follow me prosper. Those who oppose me perish. I will take Prince Jingnan as my model. Whoever stands in my path, I will destroy. No matter... the cost. With Master’s present weight... the loyalty of eastern Jin’s iron cavalry. Your prestige as Great Yan’s God of War. The political halo of having been personally invested as Regent Prince by the ‘late Emperor.’ And now Prince Jingnan’s old image attached to you as well... That is enough to make the entire bureaucracy of Great Yan tremble.”

The Blind Man paused.

“The Emperor already controls all the key positions at the top. After establishing the Grand Secretariat, especially, he has the head of the snake firmly in his hand. Now the whole body is trembling in fear as well. Under those circumstances, whatever pattern he wants to paint across the snake’s scales below... becomes merely a matter of mood.”

Zheng Fan took another sip of tea.

“Master. You are being used as a blade.”

“Am I?”

“This is being done in Master’s name, placing you on the opposite side of Great Yan’s entire bureaucracy. Put simply... what Master loses is that vast group of people who might otherwise have sat aside eating melon seeds and watching the show if you ever rebelled in the future. In front of Master, the Emperor is Ji Old Sixth. But the Emperor... is still the Emperor. By comparison, the late Emperor trampling the hereditary clans beneath his horses was far too direct and brutal. This one’s methods have almost reached the level of art. The work gets done. And the infamy never touches him.”

The Blind Man stood.

Then said:

“This subordinate is not saying this because I want to drive a wedge between Master and the Emperor. In truth, this subordinate does not believe the Emperor is deliberately using Master as a blade. Just as sheep eat grass and fish swim through water... an Emperor, that sort of... creature... acts according to instinct. To him, it is simply natural. The better the Emperor, the more completely he becomes, in the true meaning of the phrase, a lonely man above all others. Here, ‘lonely man’ is an adjective. This subordinate also understands that what Master and the Emperor presently want is the unification of All Xia. In this subordinate’s judgment, if the Emperor can push matters this far, then in another three or four years, Great Yan’s war preparations should accumulate to a very satisfying level. But... this subordinate still has one request.”

Zheng Fan looked at the Blind Man.

The Blind Man smiled.

“In truth, Master already knows what this subordinate wants to request. Because this subordinate knows Master has never forgotten the basic rules that must be observed when befriending a creature called an Emperor.”

“I know.”

“Then this subordinate has finished speaking.”

The Blind Man bowed.

If this were a game, perhaps the first half would be the unification of All Xia.

For the second half, if you grew tired of playing, you still had a son.

I could take your son... and keep playing.

The premise was... you could not smash the pot.

“A while ago, Ji Old Sixth kept dragging me onto the dragon throne and gambling his life on letting me open his skull. The wind was getting a little too loud. So I went to the Tian Clan ancestral graves. Looked at that whole field of tombs. Cleared the grease from my palate.”

As he spoke...

Zheng Fan stood as well.

He laughed.

“At the end of the day, plenty of people who curse Cao Mengde secretly want to become Cao Mengde themselves. And of all those who admire Prince Jingnan... how many truly want to become Prince Jingnan?”

...

When Zheng Fan saw the Emperor again, Ji Chengjue had already put on his wig and was sitting properly in the wheelchair.

“Going out?” Zheng Fan asked.

“I’m bored.”

The Emperor toyed with a snuff bottle in his hand.

“That isn’t suitable for you right now,” Zheng Fan reminded him.

“It’s empty.”

“Oh.”

“Surnamed Zheng, trouble yourself and push me outside for a walk.”

Zheng Fan walked over and began pushing the wheelchair.

“Actually, there is nothing particularly pleasant about being the one sitting in a wheelchair. The person pushing it sees the better scenery. The wheelchair itself becomes scenery, together with the person sitting in it.”

Zheng Fan shook his head.

“Not necessarily.”

“Think about it carefully.”

Zheng Fan closed his eyes.

After a while, he said:

“Still nowhere close.”

At first, the Emperor looked confused.

Then realization struck.

He cursed:

“Damn you. You’re pushing Us. Who the hell are you comparing Us to in your head?”

“Heh.”

“Surnamed Zheng, you are truly obscene.”

“That is not obscenity. It is elegance. Like sitting at the mouth of a noisy market street in brocade robes, eating little wontons from a tiny stall while listening to the whole world clatter around you. Pushing an Emperor while imagining a woman behind red curtains... That contrast is not vulgar. It is grand elegance.”

“Like the Hundred Beauties painting Yuan Tuge made for you?”

“You actually still remember that?”

“I had someone copy it and brought the copy back to the capital.”

“Your waist doesn’t hurt anymore? Your legs aren’t sore? No more groaning about how exhausted you are?”

“Tch. I was tired. I wasn’t castrated. And even if I had been castrated, who says I couldn’t still look?”

Eunuch Wei, walking beside them, displayed a perfectly cooperative smile.

The Rear Garden was enormous.

The core area could be protected so tightly not even water leaked through.

The outer scenic gardens, however, could never be watched from every angle.

Not unless the court truly mobilized large numbers of troops and turned the place into a military camp.

And if that happened... what scenery would be left?

“Zheng Fan, should I remove your title of Regent Prince?” the Emperor asked.

“No rush,” Zheng Fan said with a smile. “Who knows? Another accident might happen.”

“Animal.”

“You should worry about your own body. Try to live longer. The tumor in your brain is gone, but you should still practice some health preservation in daily life. Without me, you really weren’t destined for longevity.”

Eunuch Wei and Companion Zhang, walking on either side, had long since grown numb to the “childish candor” exchanged between Prince and Emperor.

“I know. I’m going to live properly. In the past, I complained that Imperial Father was too impatient and insisted on finishing everything himself. Now it’s my turn. Truthfully, if you asked me to spend my whole reign preparing everything only so the next sovereign could enjoy it—even if that next sovereign were my own son Chuanye—I still wouldn’t be willing. Why should I?”

Zheng Fan nodded.

“So now that you have two sons too, restrain yourself in the future.”

“You, a man with four wives, are advising a man with only two wives to restrain himself?”

“We are different.”

“It must be difficult for you. Every time you speak to me, you make sure to smear honey over that little mouth first.”

“Basic courtesy still matters.”

At that moment...

Zheng Fan pushed the wheelchair onto a small bridge.

Then stopped.

People stood on the bridge.

Naturally, they could not be assassins.

At their head stood Lord Mao, followed by the members of the Grand Secretariat and... the Ministers of the Six Ministries, together with other senior officials.

They had clearly received instructions in advance and been summoned here.

Originally... they had assumed the Regent Prince had called them over to discuss... the Emperor’s funeral arrangements.

Instead... they saw the Emperor sitting in a wheelchair, looking remarkably healthy.

Compared with his appearance at the grand banquet... the difference was like Heaven and Earth.

“This minister and the others kowtow before my Emperor! May Your Majesty live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand ten thousand years!”

Every one of them wept openly.

They had, after all, already prepared themselves mentally for the “dark age” of government under the Regent Prince.

Those tears... were real.

But these were still the true elite figures of an entire state.

Very quickly, another question occurred to them.

If His Majesty’s dragon body had recovered... then during these past days, when Lu Bing had sent secret-police agents everywhere seizing people in huge numbers... whose orders had he actually been following?

The Emperor rested both hands upon his knees.

He looked at the core ministers kneeling before him.

Then smiled.

“My beloved ministers, We owe you an apology. We truly believed We could not survive this time. Who could have known the Regent Prince would invite a divine physician and cure Us, leaving all of you worried?”

“This minister and the others would not dare!”

“This minister and the others are terrified!”

“Heaven protects Your Majesty! Heaven protects Great Yan!”

“We originally intended to remain in the Rear Garden for a while longer now that Our illness has improved. But the Regent Prince informed Us that Lu Bing has spent this period forming factions, attacking dissidents, abusing public authority for private purposes, exacting personal revenge, and generally going farther and farther beyond the limits. Wei Zhonghe.”

“This slave is here.”

“Transmit Our decree. Lu Bing has manipulated power. His crimes are hateful. Strip Lu Bing of every office immediately and seal the Lu household. The Lu family’s old ancestor is to be properly cared for. All other members of the Lu household are to be imprisoned under collective liability.”

“This slave obeys.”

“Also issue another decree. Tell all officials in the capital and provinces who were arrested by the Secret Intelligence Department during this period that it was the Regent Prince who pleaded for them and saved them from Lu Bing’s murderous hand. We remember the fright they have suffered. Permit them to remain at home recuperating, with their salaries paid as usual. They are to rest properly for three months. Lu Bing’s affair was Our negligence. We must compensate them properly.”

Three months idling at home.

Even if they were formally restored after those three months... there would no longer be places for them inside their original yamens.

That was also why so many officials, even after their parents died, hoped to receive imperial permission to remain in office rather than return home for mourning.

Once a man left... the tea inevitably cooled.

After losing one’s position, returning was far too difficult.

The assembled ministers cried out together:

“Your Majesty is benevolent!”

“Your Majesty is benevolent!”

“Regent Prince, push Us a little farther.”

Zheng Fan pushed the Emperor along the river.

“Moved?” the Emperor asked.

“Heh.”

“If I said nothing and did nothing, every one of these accounts would eventually be charged to you. Then We would recover from grave illness in time to stop the utterly deranged Regent Prince. And afterward... drive the Regent Prince back to eastern Jin. Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a wonderful play. I genuinely considered doing exactly that. But then I thought I’d be cheating myself. Surnamed Zheng, you really surprised me this time. You actually planned to say nothing at all and carry this entire black pot for me?”

“Couldn’t be bothered explaining.”

“Fine.”

The Emperor raised one hand.

Five fingers spread.

Then... he curled one finger down.

Four remained.

“Before Imperial Father died, he ordered Prince Zhenbei and Prince Jingnan to break the Barbarians’ spine for another hundred years. Four years. Four years. Give me four more years. Zheng Fan. You and I... will make the whole of All Xia change to a single color! You choose. Which color do you think looks best?”

“Black.”

[End of Volume]

[End of Chapter 937]